Conversion of continuous filaments into yarn containing staple fiber



April 5, 1938.

w. z. TAYLOR CONVERSION OF CONTINUOUS FILAMENTS INTO YARN CONTAININGSTAPLE FIBER Filed March 3, 1936 9 Main M ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 5,1938 CONVERSION OF CONTINUOUS FILAMENTS INTO CONTAINING STAPLE FIBERWilliam Ivan Taylor, Spondon, near Derby, Eng-' land, assignor toOelanese Corporation of America, a corporation of Delaware ApplicationMarch 3, 1936, Serial No. 68,868 In GreatBritain March 6, 1935 Thisinvention relates to a method and apparatusfor the conversion ofcontinuous filaments directly into yarn containing staple fiber.

According to the invention, a bundle of fila-' 5 ments is caused to passbetween two positively driven surfaces .moving in the same general di-'rection as the filaments, at least one of them,

however, having a peripheral speed different from the speed of thefilaments, and preferably also from. the other, at least one of thesurfaces being driven through flexible means permitting the two'surfaces to be pressed against each other with but light pressure, andyet at the. same time allowing the surfaces to move at predeterminedspeeds. At

least one of the surfaces has a cutting action, so.

that by reason of the passage of the filaments be tween the surfaces andthe light pressure exerted between the surfaces, the filaments in thebundle;

are transformed-into staple fibers,'and the -fllaments leave thesurfaces as yarn containing 'sta-i pla fiber.

The operation of convertingcontinuous fila- 4 ments in the bundle intostaple fibersas described .above does not substantially afiect thedegree'oi twist which the bundle may possess. However, when the bundlehas little or no-twist, the prod? not should be collected; after theconversion oi' the filaments into staple fibers, bya twisting andwinding operation to' impart to it a twist which so may be the amount oftwist in the final product, or may need to be'augmented by fur-,

ther twisting. In either case, the twist so imparted during windingmaintainsthe coherenceof the product. Alternatively, the coherence may35 be maintained by reason of a substantial initial degree of twist inthe continuous filament bundle', which twist, as previously stated, ispractically unafi'ected by the conversion. The surfaces should togethermake pressure 40 contact preferably substantially at a point in-thelength of the bundle, but while a pair of'rollers 50 be adjusted inaccordance with the nature of the,

material under treatment and .the

desired in the final product. {The invention per-,-

mits-the necessary adiustmentoi speed to be e'fiiected while" allowingsubstantially .independent the diiference of speed between thecontroh-pf the pressure exerted between them:-

aplain surface. v v .It is advantageous to allow the weight of one facesto be maintained, and so readily permits the use of greater orlesspressure' where necessary,

vas with the treatment of bundles of greater or less denier. 7

Other factors governing the nature of the final product, which factorsmay be varied as required, are the nature of the cutting surface. thespeed of progression of the filament bundle through the apparatus, the,difference between the speed of the surface or surfaces and thefilaments, the 10 fineness of the individual filaments in the bundie,and the amount of twist in the bundle.

The cutting surface may be of an abrasive nature, e. g. a rollersurfaced with or made of abra-' sive material. It is, however,advantageous to 18 employ a cutting roller provided with fine sharpedgedflutes running'either helically or substantially parallel to the axis ofthe roller, a roller of this type providing for greater control over theproperties of the final product. Both surfaces may have a cuttingaction, for example a pair of fluted cutting rollers may beused, theflutes of the two rollers runningin such directions as to cross eachother at the point of contact be.- tween the rollers. One roller.however, may have 2 of the rollers to provide the necessary lightpressure between the surfaces',-whether such pressing roller has or hasnot s cutting action.

The 'inventionis applicable to the treatment of diiferent kindsofcontinuous filaments, e. g. eel;-

- lulose derivative filaments such as cellulose ace taterfilaments,cellulosic filaments such as viscose filaments, and natural silkfilaments. By way of example, a form of apparatus pro vided withdrivingmeans according to the'inven tion will now be'describ'ed in greaterdetail with referenceto the accompanying drawing in'whlch 1. Fig. 1 is aside elevation of an apparatus driven by means according to? the presentinvention for converting a bundle of continuous filaments intoastapleflber yarn, and

2-5 give alternative forms of the driving mechanism according to'thepresent invention.

'InFig. ltheapparatusisshownas comprising generally twopair'sofsrollersi,-I, 3,4,therollers.

landtbeingmountedonpositivelydrivenshaits.landlwhiletherollersi'andlarecsrrledona bracket I suspended fromastationary shaft I so abovethe rollers. The roller 1 iscarried inslottedbearings in'a'member iI secured to the bracket I by means of s ut andbolt ll passing through a slot in the bracket! so that the positiooithe. ll may be musty/Vania? The roller 5 is mounted in bearingscarried in a slot I3 in the lower end of the bracket I.

Yarn I4 consisting of continuous filaments is supplied horizontally tothe upper pair of rollers I, 2 and passing over the roller I'proceedsdownwards to the rollers 3 4. The roller 3 is grooved so that it gripsthe filaments with the aid of the roller 4 and is driven at a higherspeed than the roller I. In consequence the bundle of continuousfilaments I4 is caused to slip over the surface of the roller I. Theroller I is provided with flutes making sharp edges with the surface ofthe roller so that the rollerl exerts a cutting action on the filamentsand converts the bundle of continuous filaments I4 into a continuousbundle of staple fibers I5. This bundle proceeds downwards to the guideI6 of a cap-spinning device IT by means of which it is twisted and spuninto a staple fiber yarn and wound on the package I8 which is driven bymeans of the band I9.

In order to bring about the cutting of the contin ous filaments in thebundle I4 between the rollers I and 2 the roller 2 is allowed to pressdownwards on the roller I with its own weight,

a clearance 20 being allowed at the bottom of the slotted bearing 3 topermit the weight of the roller 2 to be effective. The roller 2 ispositively driven at a speed which may be the same as, or

different from, that of the roller I by means of a flexible drivingshaft 2| attached at one end to the roller 2 and having at the other end'a bevel gear 23 engaging with a bevel gear 24 on a driving shaft 25.The shaft 25 is driven in any desired speed relationship with the shafts5, 6 so that the speed of the roller 2, like those of the rollers. I and3, is positively controlled. The flutes in the surface of the roller Iby means of which the filaments, pressed into sliding contact with theroller I, are periodically severed to form staple fibers, are shown moreclearly at 28 in Figs. 2-5.

In Figs. 2 and 3 means are shown for driving the roller 2 from theroller I; In Fig. 2 gear wheels 21, 28 are secured to the rollers I and2 respectively. The teeth of the gear wheels 21 and 28 are longer thanis usual so that any vertical movement of the roller 2, which is freelyallowed by the slotted bearings 9, does not interfere with thedriving ofthe roller 2. The gears 21 and 28 are equal in size so that the rollersI and 2 are driven at equalspeeds. In Fig. 3 gear wheels 29 and 30 areshown which are different in size, the gear wheel 29 being smaller thanthe gear wheel 30 so that the roller 2 is driven more slowly than theroller I.

In Fig. 4 a further method of driving the roller 2 from the shaft 5 ofthe roller I is shown, in which the shaft 5 is provided with a bevelgear 3i engaging with a bevel gear 32 carried on 9.

countershaft 33 mounted in bearings 34, 35. Splined to the countershaft33 is a friction wheel 36 which is held downwards against a spring 31 onthe shaft 33 by means of a lock nut 38 engaging on a screwed portion 39of the shaft 33.

The friction wheel 36 engages with a friction disc 40 secured to theshaft H of the roller 2. By these means the roller 2 is driven from theshaft 5 of the roller I and the speed ratio between the roller 2 and theroller I may'be adjusted by means of the locking means 38 with the aidof which the friction wheel 36 may be caused to engage with any desiredradius of the friction disc 40.

In Fig. 5 another form of apparatus is shown in which the roller 2 isdriven independently of the roller I from a shaft 42. Between thepositively driven shaft 42 and the shaft H of the roller 2 areinterposed coupling means comprising two discs 43, 44 secured to theends of the shafts 4I and 42 respectively, the discs being provided withfeathers 45, 45 respectively proceeding diametrically across theirfaces.

The two' feathers 45, 46 engage in diametral grooves in to secure byLetters Patent is:-

Apparatus for the production from a bundle of continuous filaments of acontinuous product containing staple fibers, said apparatus comprising apair of rollers, one at least of said rollers having a cutting surface,means for drawing a bundle of continuous filaments through said pair ofrollers at a speed different from the peripheral speed of at least oneof said rollers, means for pressing said rollers together was to exert alight pressure upon the bundle of filaments passing between them, adriving shaft positively connected to one of said rollers, a furtherdriving shaft and a coupling including discs secured to said furthershaft and said other roller, diametrally disposed feathers on the facesof said discs, and an intermediate disc between said I WILLIAM IVANTampa.

